The Hitler Beetle can keep its name

So far there have been no requests to change the scientific names of animal species for ethical reasons – including Anophthalmus hitleri, said taxonomist Daniel Whitmore, who is a member of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. This body issues the rules for naming new animal species.

Some names given decades ago are now being criticized because they honor controversial people, use colonial place names or, from the perspective of some scientists, can be discriminatory or racist. According to the international commission, several hundred thousand scientific names could be affected.

“Very subjective and personal matter”

However, she rejects a renaming for ethical reasons. “We certainly understand that some names can cause discomfort or offense, says Whitmore. But the priority is to have a universal and stable nomenclature so that there is no confusion. “It is not our job to judge whether names are offensive or ethically unacceptable because it is a very subjective and personal matter.”

Every year thousands of new animal species are described around the world. How taxonomists should proceed is set out in the international rules for zoological nomenclature. The nomenclature does not provide any content guidelines, says zoology professor Michael Ohl from the Museum of Natural History in Berlin. The researchers can choose the names freely, as long as they are formed technically correctly. “These apply as soon as they are published and can no longer be deleted.”

Name wouldn’t disappear completely

“In a case like the Hitler Beetle, renaming it wouldn’t change much,” says Ohl. Because the name would not disappear completely. Animals often have several scientific names, so they are all listed in a kind of catalog under the currently valid name. Anyone who wants to collect the Hitler Beetle because of the name will continue to do so, says Ohl.

There is a long tradition of naming newly discovered animal species after people – to flatter a generous donor, to honor family or friends or to attract attention with the help of prominent namesakes, as Ohl writes in his book “The Art of Naming”. A species of millipede bears the name of pop star Taylor Swift, beetles are named after the actor Leonardo DiCaprio and the climate protection activist Greta Thunberg, and a species of moth is reminiscent of the former US President Donald Trump.